Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the second meeting of the Community Board and reminded members that the meeting was being recorded.

The Chairman reported that Chesham had received very good GCSE and A level results over the summer and wished, on behalf of the Board, to congratulate our students and to thank all the teachers for their hard work.

The Chairman also welcomed Mrs Liz Hornby who had replaced Ms Alice Williams as clerk to the Board. It was noted that Ms Williams was now the Community Board Co-ordinator for Marlow.

The Chairman also reminded those present that questions were welcome at the Board if they were submitted five days in advance of the meeting.

Apologies were received from Anne Birkett and Councillors Hudson and Southworth.

To receive any disclosure of disclosable pecuniary interests by Members relating to items on the agenda. If any Member is uncertain as to whether an interest should be disclosable, he or she is asked, if possible, to contact the Monitoring Officer prior to the meeting.

Members are reminded that if they are declaring an interest, they should state the nature of that interest whether or not they are required to withdraw from the meeting.

There were none.

To agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 July 2020.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 14 July 2020 were agreed as a true record, subject to the sentence on page 5 “Chesham town appeared to be less deprived than the villages” being deleted.

To receive a verbal update from Roy Evans of Thames Valley Police.

PC Roy Evans explained that he had PC Gavin McVeigh with him.

PC Evans explained that he had produced a report for the Board and was to produce a quarterly newsletter which would be published on 1 October 2020.

He explained that three priorities had been decided on in May, which were Drug dealing / usage; Residential burglary and Anti-Social behaviour and he summarised as follows:

Drug dealing/usage: there had been an increase in county lines drug gang members coming into Chesham with intelligence stating they were from London and picking on vulnerable communities within the town. However, the neighbourhood teams were tackling this issue. Chesham and Amersham colleagues were proactively working together in trying to intercept them. Intelligence was constantly developing and if there was intel in a certain area, then that area would be ‘flooded’ with police and PCSO’s. A recent drugs operation was carried out at Chesham station to stop county lines coming in that way. A drugs dog was used and everyone who the dog identified either admitted they were carrying drugs or had been in possession of them recently. Criticism had been levelled against the police on social media in relation to this operation as people believe that the British Transport Police should have carried it out, however, anyone coming into the town with the intention of dealing drugs meant that the Thames Valley Police should carry out the operation. On the same day as that operation, a vehicle carrying 3 males was stopped in Ashley Green. Those 3 males were found to all be on bail and were found in possession of drugs and cash in the vehicle. It was hoped that a charge of Possession with Intent to Supply would follow.

Burglary: figures showed that Chiltern and South Bucks was one of the most targeted areas. Within the past three months the two most common ways for a burglar to enter a property were via the front or rear doors with front doors being the most used in the evenings. Advice from TVP was that all doors should remain locked even when the householder was within the property. PC Evans wanted to promote CCTV for homes and stated that there were some extremely good/high picture quality, but inexpensive, CCTV systems on the market. In normal circumstances, TVP would attend neighbourhood meetings, events and fairs etc. to promote house safety but because of Covid-19, this had been impossible. However, depending on restrictions, it was hoped that these events would start again and TVP would attend.

Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB): this covered a wide definition, from personal to community or environmental to nuisance. PC Evans explained that there was a full list on the TVP website. Members of the public also believed that speeding and drugs were anti-social too but because they overlapped with other categories it was never clear what they were more concerned with. Covid-19 had brought more problems for TVP to deal with since March 2020. Not only had they been expected to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

Members received a short update, via video, from Councillor Martin Tett, Leader of the Council.

·         HS2 – update from Cllr C Sully

·         Village Forum – verbal update from Cllr P Birchley

·         Covid-19 Response – verbal update from Cllr M Shaw

·         Town Team – verbal update from Cllr J Macbean

·         Progress on Community Forum – verbal update from Cllr J Macbean

HS2

HS2 Update (slides attached)

Mr Colin Sully explained that this was the first report to the Community with different impacts across the area. For this report he had confined HS2 activities between Wendover and Amersham.

Board members noted that the presentation slides summarised the contents of the report which had been circulated with the agenda.

The following points were raised during the presentation:

·         It was clear that 2021 would see a ramping up of significant impact on the A413 corridor which would have an effect on surrounding areas.

·         It was noted where trains would emerge from the North portal of the Chilterns tunnel, travel through deep cuttings and then cross the A413 south of Wendover. Local community groups, Parish Councillors and Bucks Councillors had, for some time, been trying to find out how HS2 proposed to carry out this work without putting large amounts of additional traffic on the A413.

·         Before commencing works, under the HS2 Act the company had to submit planning applications under Section 4 or Section 17 and it was noted that there was a programme of applications about to be submitted to the Council.

·         The Chalfont St Peter ventilation shaft applications were submitted on 17 August 2020 and 10 September 2020 and were currently being reviewed. Applications for the Wendover Viaduct, Chalfont St Giles and Chiltern North Portal and two more applications for the southeast were due in October.

·         There was uncertainty around how engagement would take place at a local level. It was also noted that councils had very limited powers to refuse or request amendments to these applications. There were some difficulties with HS2 communicating with the local community groups. There had been some impact during 2020 in respect of Covid-19, various protest groups and the change of local authority to a Unitary Authority.

·         A group called the Missendens Meetings, which included the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of this Community Board as well as the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Missenden Community Board would consider how to engage with HS2. Perhaps HS2 could be invited to a future Community Board meeting?

·         There was concern in relation to the haul routes, particularly on the A413 and other routes that were not authorised for HGV’s. There was also concern in relation to ‘rat-running’ by drivers trying to avoid the congestion on the A413 as well as the closure of some footpaths and roads. The final concern was in relation to local landowners and farmers many of whom were facing life changing decisions as a result of HS2.

·         The promised traffic monitoring had not been put in place, despite many appeals to the Secretary of State.

·         Further concerns were raised in relation to the key designs and that HS2 had not liaised with the public in relation to the builds. Engagement was not forthcoming.

·         Broader impacts of concern were noise from the train operation, particularly the South Heath and Wendover areas and issues remained unresolved. Water supply issues in the Chesham Valley on Bacombe Hill and water  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

The Chairman reported the following budgets:

Health & Wellbeing - £16,000 left having spent £16,000 during the Covid-19 emergency.

Local Infrastructure Fund - £24,000

Community Area Priorities - £90,000

Funding streams were now open to all organisations who had a bank account. Funding decisions would be taken later in the financial year. Applications with match funding would be prioritised. Funding was not available for any political purposes or for the benefit of a single individual.

Clarity had been sought on whether the funding could be used for transport / roads. It was noted that Councillor Gareth Williams had spoken with Mark Davies, Transport for Bucks, for clarity around what was considered Transport for Bucks highways projects and what was not covered. Cllr Williams would follow up on the outcome of these discussions.

To receive a presentation by Colin McGregor-Paterson of The Oasis Partnership.

It was noted that because Mr Colin McGregor-Paterson was not at the meeting it was agreed that this item would be deferred to the next meeting.

Tuesday 3 November 2020 at 7.00pm.

Tuesday 3 November 2020 at 7.00pm.